


the war is over

by EnvyBakemono



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Hyuroi Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 08:30:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7927867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnvyBakemono/pseuds/EnvyBakemono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You’re not sure how to feel about the way he’s holding your hand, but everybody’s nervous on the train out to Ishval. Written for Hyuroi Week 2016, with a drabble/chapter for each day. TW for major character death, PTSD, jealousy/cheating and some mild NSFW sexual content.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Brotherhood

            You’re not sure how to feel about the way he’s holding your hand, but everybody’s nervous on the train out to Ishval. The horror stories have trickled in, stories of the insurgent tactics that have left entire platoons maimed –

            “You’re hyperventilating,” Hughes teases. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine. Besides –“ Hughes uses his other hand to give you a gentle punch on the shoulder. “We have each other’s back, right?”

            You roll your eyes. But secretly, you know it’s true. You’re brothers in arms, now, and even if you could turn back, you wouldn’t. There are people depending on you.


	2. Photograph

He fawns over the picture of Gracia in his pocket, and you can’t help but be a little jealous that he’s got a little piece of sanity left to hold on to. Yours has turned up here in hell, eyes just as cold and dead as your own.

You get up in the middle of the night, untangling his hands from where they’ve curled into your hair, and find the photograph. You don’t destroy it. You just look at her, trying to figure out what about her makes him smile so broadly, in a way he never will for you.


	3. Protect the People I Love

He’s injured in combat, and nobody will let you see at first, but it trickles back to you – he was caught in the crossfire, literally. It’s a burn.

You sit by his bedside. You’re sure everybody knows by now – at least how you feel about him, but nobody, including you, are quite sure how he feels in return – but you can’t pull yourself away.

You were supposed to protect him.

(He’s fine, at least then, but you never forget, and when somebody else you love asks you to do the same, you have to look away while the flesh chars.)


	4. Dreams

His dream was always a family. That’s fair – he’s never had one, neither have you, but you never really felt that loss. You’ll be the Fuhrer. That’s your goal, and he supports yours and you support his, and together you’ll achieve your dreams.

But on the way home, battlescarred and empty, you can’t help but notice that this time, he doesn’t hold your hand. Both of you can feel the blood still there, dripping and dripping. You can’t bear to touch him, but not touching him makes you want to cry.

You dream about this moment, over and over again.


	5. Actions Speak Louder Than Words

He’s never told you he loves you. Those words are reserved for his wife and daughter. Instead – with the same meaning, you tell yourself, and it’s good enough for now – he pins you to the wall, kisses you so hard that you can feel how red and puffy your lips are when he pulls away, he thrusts and teases and when he’s finished with you, he mops the sweat and come and tears from your face and apologizes for hurting you. You focus on this. What he doesn’t say means more. His eyes tell you all you need to know.


	6. Battlefield

The war is over. The war is over. The war is over.

He stands in front of you, covered in blood, eyes so much older than they were when you first took that train together and prepared to step into a new world. “Wake up.” He whispers between breath and breath. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

You try to hold him, the way you can’t where people can see, but he vanishes like smoke in your hands, and the blood that had stained him drips onto your white gloves, hot and toxic and full of life.


	7. Phone Call

The dream has been in your head all day, but you’re still not expecting anything more than the usual when the phone rings. It’s from Hughes, but instead of the cheerful greeting you expect, there’s nothing. Nothing but silence.

And then, the gun fires and rips apart your world. You don’t even hear it hang up. You’re too busy trying to put reality to rights with your bare hands – _this is wrong –_ and you should have realized, you should have been smarter, you should have protected him -

The war is over.

The war is over.

The war is over.


End file.
